This invention deals with what are known as dress kits or redress kits for store shelving and more particularly an improved system for supporting such dress kits.
Historically, display shelves in retail stores such as drugstores have mounted shelves and other display fixtures on upright metal posts generally positioned in spaced rows so as to outline rectangular blocks of store floor space. The shelves are then generally supported in various convenient ways to span and be supported by such posts. The merchandise is then placed on those shelves for display and sale. Other means for the display and sale of goods and particularly at the ends or end caps of such blocks involve, in effect, arrays of wire frames comprising a body of vertically-spaced laterally-extending wires upon which goods may be directly or indirectly supported. These frames may include wire wings forwardly extending from each lateral edge thereof and such wings may further be utilized to support goods for display and sale. Because frames and wings are somewhat unsightly, dress or redress kits have been developed to conceal such.
One such dress kit comprises a vertically oriented back panel provided with pegboard openings and a pair of wing covers forwardly extending from each lateral side thereof. These wing covers are connected to the back panel and each form a hollow interior portion or pocket such that the wire wings are received therein and covered thereby. These wing covers as well as the wings themselves are referred to as “power wings” in the trade. The dress kit is normally supported generally on the horizontal wires of the wire panel by hooks connected to the back panel. In effect, the dress kit is thus supported by or hung on the wire panel with the wire wings extending into the pockets of the power wing dress kit.
The above-described system is illustrated in FIGS. 1 and 2 hereof. In such systems, there is essentially no standardized manner of supporting the wire frame and generally what takes place in the store setup process is that the wire frame is attached to one or more of the upright posts in any convenient manner, e.g., by threading a screw bolt into the post and utilizing a washer or plate which spans two of the wires to hold the frame in position. Normally, these posts include separate side wall openings vertically spaced at opposite sides of the walls of the hollow posts and, in those cases, an added plate or washer to span one of such post side wall openings and held together with a threaded nut can be utilized. None of these known mechanisms, however, accomplish the objective of safely, easily and securely positioning the wire frame, and the present invention is directed to this problem.
Accordingly, the present invention presents a construction that not only solves the above-indicated objectives but also does so in a significantly less expensive manner. This is accomplished by entirely eliminating the wire frame and providing a novel bracket construction which includes both means to positively connect such to a support post and means to, in turn, support a conventional dress kit housing in such a manner that the outward appearance and function of the overall display system is retained.
These and other objects are accomplished by a bracket having a laterally extending body member including forwardly extending fingers at opposite ends thereof and a connector assembly rearwardly extending from one end thereof and, in turn, including a pair of side plates—one fixed to the frame and one relatively movable therewith to cooperatively engage opposed sides of an upright supporting post. The side plates are thus fastened to the post whereas portions of the frame serve to enable the rear wall of the dress kit to be suspended, i.e., mounted, thereon; and the fingers are positioned to extend into the dress kit side pocket openings.
Other objects, features and advantages of the invention shall become apparent as the description thereof proceeds when considered in connection with the accompanying illustrative drawings.